Blue Angels, Thunderbirds fly over Baltimore, D.C. to honor essential workers during coronavirus crisis

The Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force’s Thunderbirds flew over Baltimore and the Washington, D.C., area Saturday to honor first responders and health care workers working during the coronavirus pandemic.

The demonstration was organized for a day that Gov. Larry Hogan declared as Healthcare Heroes Day across the state. The State House dome, Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium were to be lit up in blue as part of the day of acknowledging the work of those fighting COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on the front lines.

“We can never fully express our gratitude for our incredible healthcare heroes,” Hogan tweeted Saturday morning. “May God bless each and every one of them.”

[ Naval Academy midshipmen will be commissioned on the Yard in groups over 10 days next month ]

The formation was made up of six Air Force F-16C/D Fighting Falcon and 6 Navy F/A-18C/D Hornet jet fighters. The flyovers over Baltimore were scheduled to last for about 15 minutes, winding past Fort McHenry, north toward Towson, then looping around to East Baltimore and finally heading southwest toward Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flew over New York City, Newark and Trenton, New Jersey, and Philadelphia on Tuesday to salute frontline COVID-19 responders. They were scheduled to fly over Atlanta on Saturday as well.

On the Blue Angels Twitter, the squadron encouraged residents to practice social distancing while watching the flyovers.

The flyovers fulfill training requirements for both teams, as pilots must execute a minimum number of flight hours to maintain proficiency. The flyovers do not incur any additional costs to taxpayers, a joint statement from the Air Force and Navy that the governor’s office shared reads.

Capital Gazette reporter Selene San Felice contributed to this article.

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People watch as a formation of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flight teams pass in front of the New York City skyline as seen from in Weehawken, N.J., Tuesday, April 28, 2020. The flyover was in salute to first responders in the fight against the new coronavirus. (Seth Wenig/AP)